Zwaartsluis to Hattem.

They promised us rain, but happily they got it wrong and shortly after we headed down the Zwaarte Water we were hunting out the sunblock again :)

With no lift bridges and only one lock, we made good time until we made the turn into the IJssel river where the current was running around 3 kph against us. This is, we later learned, low for this time of year and it is usually running a lot more.

Garden across the road from the marina.

I had stuck a pin in the chart at the point I figured we would have had enough for the day and the spot turned out to be Hattem. And what a happy choice it turned out to be. The marina is nothing special, but has excellent WiFi (mainly because we picked a berth underneath the router) and stroom is included.

Hattem city gate. We climbed four flights
of dark, steep stairs, to find the window panes at the top
a bit too grubby for photos.  So, you'll have to
take my word for the nice view.

The town, however is really pretty. Lots of tourist type shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants. I think it is an "outing" kind of place where locals take a drive to and have lunch. Great for wandering around, and only steps away from the boat.

Chocolatier at work.

The fruits of her labours. They were giving out free samples :)
The town hosts an annual chocolate festival on the 10th October
which we will unfortunately miss :(

Skip had a haircut on the dock when we got back and then cleaned the side of his boat. He will reward himself shortly with a pot of mussels and a beer on the aft deck while dreaming of his favourite shop of the trip which we discovered today in Hattem, and no, it wasn't the chocolate shop!

This shop must have had over a hundred ship
models. Most of them were made in Vietnam. The shopkeeper explained
how they send them photos of boats and get these beautiful models in return.

A small section of the sailboats. They also had dozens, some huge,
of models of classic motoryachts.

Nice to get a mail from Graeme. Vasbyt. Not too many sleeps!